This book explores important issues of corporate reorganization in the context of heightened global competition. Its special focus is upon how firms associate with regional milieux. Innovation is a ...
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This book explores important issues of corporate reorganization in the context of heightened global competition. Its special focus is upon how firms associate with regional milieux. Innovation is a key factor in corporate and regional economic performance and the book shows how interactive innovation based on collective learning and associative practices are becoming increasingly significant. In-depth studies of inter-firm and firm-agency interactions are presented for four European regions: Baden-Württemberg and Emilia-Romagna as accomplished regional economies; Wales and the Basque Country as learning regions. The book is theoretically informed by an evolutionary economics perspective and draws policy conclusions which emphasize the importance of decentralized industrial policy in support of both corporate and regional economic development ambitions. It concludes that the associational economy may be the ‘third way’ between state and market co-ordination of modern economies.Less

The Associational Economy : Firms, Regions, and Innovation

Philip CookeKevin Morgan

Published in print: 1998-04-09

This book explores important issues of corporate reorganization in the context of heightened global competition. Its special focus is upon how firms associate with regional milieux. Innovation is a key factor in corporate and regional economic performance and the book shows how interactive innovation based on collective learning and associative practices are becoming increasingly significant. In-depth studies of inter-firm and firm-agency interactions are presented for four European regions: Baden-Württemberg and Emilia-Romagna as accomplished regional economies; Wales and the Basque Country as learning regions. The book is theoretically informed by an evolutionary economics perspective and draws policy conclusions which emphasize the importance of decentralized industrial policy in support of both corporate and regional economic development ambitions. It concludes that the associational economy may be the ‘third way’ between state and market co-ordination of modern economies.

The innovative strength of the world's two largest economies, the United States and Japan, are based on two different forms of industrial and social organization. For the United States, venture ...
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The innovative strength of the world's two largest economies, the United States and Japan, are based on two different forms of industrial and social organization. For the United States, venture companies play a key role in technical and economic progress, while in Japan they have only a minor role. This book argues that without vibrant new high technology companies, Japanese industry will decline inexorably. At the same time, if the favourable yet delicate environment in America is undermined, America will face collapse of its innovative and economic strength. Japan has done much to improve its environment for high technology ventures. It has some promising new high technology companies and gradually increasing numbers of entrepreneurial scientists and managers. But they continue to swim against the current. One reason is that large, established companies dominate high technology fields and pursue an autarkic innovation strategy-relying on research in-house or in affiliated companies. Another reason is that these same large companies still have preferential access to university discoveries, largely because of government policies. Thus, high technology ventures are deprived of niches in which to grow, skilled personnel, and their natural customer base. In the field of university-industry relations, steps can still be taken to improve the environment for high technology ventures-steps that would also increase the quality of university science. The American–Japanese innovation dichotomy represents a broader dichotomy between so-called liberal and coordinated market economies. The lessons from these two countries' experiences are applicable to many industrialized countries, and to developing countries shaping their innovation systems.Less

Bridging Islands : Venture Companies and the Future of Japanese and American Industry

Robert Kneller

Published in print: 2007-08-23

The innovative strength of the world's two largest economies, the United States and Japan, are based on two different forms of industrial and social organization. For the United States, venture companies play a key role in technical and economic progress, while in Japan they have only a minor role. This book argues that without vibrant new high technology companies, Japanese industry will decline inexorably. At the same time, if the favourable yet delicate environment in America is undermined, America will face collapse of its innovative and economic strength. Japan has done much to improve its environment for high technology ventures. It has some promising new high technology companies and gradually increasing numbers of entrepreneurial scientists and managers. But they continue to swim against the current. One reason is that large, established companies dominate high technology fields and pursue an autarkic innovation strategy-relying on research in-house or in affiliated companies. Another reason is that these same large companies still have preferential access to university discoveries, largely because of government policies. Thus, high technology ventures are deprived of niches in which to grow, skilled personnel, and their natural customer base. In the field of university-industry relations, steps can still be taken to improve the environment for high technology ventures-steps that would also increase the quality of university science. The American–Japanese innovation dichotomy represents a broader dichotomy between so-called liberal and coordinated market economies. The lessons from these two countries' experiences are applicable to many industrialized countries, and to developing countries shaping their innovation systems.

Business model innovation is an important source of competitive advantage and corporate renewal. An increasing number of companies have to innovate their business models, not just because of ...
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Business model innovation is an important source of competitive advantage and corporate renewal. An increasing number of companies have to innovate their business models, not just because of competitive forces but also because of the ongoing change from product-based to service-based business models. Yet, business model innovation is also a massive organizational change process that challenges existing processes, structures and modes of control. The specific angle, and the novel feature of this book, is to thoroughly examine the organizational dimension of business model innovation. Drawing on organizational theory and empirical observation, the contributors specifically highlight organizational design aspects of business model innovation, focusing on how reward systems, power distributions, routines and standard operating procedures, the allocation of authority, and other aspects of organizational structure and control should be designed to support the business model the firm chooses. Also discussed are how existing organizational structures, capabilities, beliefs, cultures and so on influence the firm’s ability to flexibly change to new business models.Less

Business Model Innovation : The Organizational Dimension

Published in print: 2015-02-01

Business model innovation is an important source of competitive advantage and corporate renewal. An increasing number of companies have to innovate their business models, not just because of competitive forces but also because of the ongoing change from product-based to service-based business models. Yet, business model innovation is also a massive organizational change process that challenges existing processes, structures and modes of control. The specific angle, and the novel feature of this book, is to thoroughly examine the organizational dimension of business model innovation. Drawing on organizational theory and empirical observation, the contributors specifically highlight organizational design aspects of business model innovation, focusing on how reward systems, power distributions, routines and standard operating procedures, the allocation of authority, and other aspects of organizational structure and control should be designed to support the business model the firm chooses. Also discussed are how existing organizational structures, capabilities, beliefs, cultures and so on influence the firm’s ability to flexibly change to new business models.

Advances in technology are critical for the transformation of a nation from a relatively low-wage to a relatively high-wage economy. Leading national economies are invariably global leaders in ...
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Advances in technology are critical for the transformation of a nation from a relatively low-wage to a relatively high-wage economy. Leading national economies are invariably global leaders in technology. In the last three decades, China has changed from one of the most impoverished countries on the planet to becoming the world largest economy with hundreds of millions of people being pulled out of poverty. Yet the question of China’s progress toward global technological leadership remains an open and hotly debated subject. Each chapter of this book focuses one high-tech industry exploring questions concerning technological trajectories and innovative capacities, historical evolution of the structures of industrial organization, international technology transfer, the role of the state, product-market conditions, the dynamic interaction of supply and demand, global competition, national policies, and regional industrial eco-systems. Taken together, these chapters provide the most complete picture to date of China’s technological development, with insights into the dynamics of innovative enterprise, and the roles of the state and globalization in supporting the development process.Less

China as an Innovation Nation

Published in print: 2016-02-01

Advances in technology are critical for the transformation of a nation from a relatively low-wage to a relatively high-wage economy. Leading national economies are invariably global leaders in technology. In the last three decades, China has changed from one of the most impoverished countries on the planet to becoming the world largest economy with hundreds of millions of people being pulled out of poverty. Yet the question of China’s progress toward global technological leadership remains an open and hotly debated subject. Each chapter of this book focuses one high-tech industry exploring questions concerning technological trajectories and innovative capacities, historical evolution of the structures of industrial organization, international technology transfer, the role of the state, product-market conditions, the dynamic interaction of supply and demand, global competition, national policies, and regional industrial eco-systems. Taken together, these chapters provide the most complete picture to date of China’s technological development, with insights into the dynamics of innovative enterprise, and the roles of the state and globalization in supporting the development process.

This book provides the first in-depth analysis of how four innovative Chinese electronics enterprises — the Stone Group, the Legend Computer Group, the Founder Group, and the China Great Wall ...
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This book provides the first in-depth analysis of how four innovative Chinese electronics enterprises — the Stone Group, the Legend Computer Group, the Founder Group, and the China Great Wall Computer Group — transformed the Chinese computer industry over the past decade. It explains how indigenous Chinese business enterprises that developed during the era of economic reform gained the high-technology capabilities and modern marketing know-how to compete domestically and internationally with powerful foreign multinationals. Through case studies based on first-hand access to company records and personnel, this book reveals how, building on technological capabilities accumulated during the central planning era, the institutional transformations of the economic reform era unleashed a unique pattern of organizational learning and innovative enterprise. This book also draws out the implications of the developmental experience of the Chinese computer electronics sector for understanding the institutional and organisational foundations for a successful transition from a centrally planned economy toward a market-oriented one.Less

China's Leap into the Information Age : Innovation and Organization in the Computer Industry

Qiwen Lu

Published in print: 2000-07-13

This book provides the first in-depth analysis of how four innovative Chinese electronics enterprises — the Stone Group, the Legend Computer Group, the Founder Group, and the China Great Wall Computer Group — transformed the Chinese computer industry over the past decade. It explains how indigenous Chinese business enterprises that developed during the era of economic reform gained the high-technology capabilities and modern marketing know-how to compete domestically and internationally with powerful foreign multinationals. Through case studies based on first-hand access to company records and personnel, this book reveals how, building on technological capabilities accumulated during the central planning era, the institutional transformations of the economic reform era unleashed a unique pattern of organizational learning and innovative enterprise. This book also draws out the implications of the developmental experience of the Chinese computer electronics sector for understanding the institutional and organisational foundations for a successful transition from a centrally planned economy toward a market-oriented one.

This book examines the origins and emergence of technology-based industrial clusters — regional concentrations of related firms and organizations — in order to understand the forces that promoted ...
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This book examines the origins and emergence of technology-based industrial clusters — regional concentrations of related firms and organizations — in order to understand the forces that promoted economic development. Many places attempt to emulate the world's most famous industrial cluster Silicon Valley, with its rich institutional landscape of engaged and leveraged research universities, high-flying local venture capitalists, world class supporting business and legal consultants, and rich collaborative networks. While mature clusters may look similar, what really matters is the process by which clusters come into existence. But there is little understanding of such processes, and little guidance provided on the role of policies in promoting cluster emergence. The book attempts to bridge this gap in the literature by focusing on the early origins of high-technology cluster in Europe, the United States, and China, and the ensuing policy implications. The book is organized around three main themes: Creation Myths Revisited, Considering the Development Cluster Context, and Crafting Cluster and Economic Development Policy. The empirical analyses suggest that clusters that grow rapidly as compared to the less successful ones are distinguished by vigorous entrepreneurial activity and the active building of institutions aided by the forces of agglomeration economies.Less

Cluster Genesis : Technology-Based Industrial Development

Published in print: 2006-11-02

This book examines the origins and emergence of technology-based industrial clusters — regional concentrations of related firms and organizations — in order to understand the forces that promoted economic development. Many places attempt to emulate the world's most famous industrial cluster Silicon Valley, with its rich institutional landscape of engaged and leveraged research universities, high-flying local venture capitalists, world class supporting business and legal consultants, and rich collaborative networks. While mature clusters may look similar, what really matters is the process by which clusters come into existence. But there is little understanding of such processes, and little guidance provided on the role of policies in promoting cluster emergence. The book attempts to bridge this gap in the literature by focusing on the early origins of high-technology cluster in Europe, the United States, and China, and the ensuing policy implications. The book is organized around three main themes: Creation Myths Revisited, Considering the Development Cluster Context, and Crafting Cluster and Economic Development Policy. The empirical analyses suggest that clusters that grow rapidly as compared to the less successful ones are distinguished by vigorous entrepreneurial activity and the active building of institutions aided by the forces of agglomeration economies.

Ours is the most dynamic era in human history. The benefits of four centuries of technological and organizational change are at last reaching a previously excluded global majority. This ...
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Ours is the most dynamic era in human history. The benefits of four centuries of technological and organizational change are at last reaching a previously excluded global majority. This transformation will create large-scale opportunities in richer countries like the United States just as it has in poorer countries now in the ascent. This book argues that it is time to overcome the outdated narratives of fear that dominate public discourse and to grasp the powerful momentum of progress. Acknowledging the gravity of today's greatest global challenges—like climate change, water scarcity, and rapid urbanization—the book emphasizes that the choices we make today will determine the extent and reach of the coming prosperity. To make the most of this epochal transition, it states, the key is entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs introduce new products and services, expand the range of global knowledge networks, and, most importantly, challenge established business interests, maintaining the vitality of mature capitalist economies and enhancing the viability of emerging ones. The book frames narratives of inspiring entrepreneurs within the sweep of human history. The book's deft analysis of economic trends is enlivened by stories of entrepreneurs making an outsize difference in their communities and the world—people like Karim Khoja, who led the creation of the first mobile phone company in Afghanistan; Leila Janah, who is bringing digital-age opportunity to talented people trapped in refugee camps; and Victoria Hale, whose non-profit pharmaceutical company turned an orphan drug into a cure for black fever.Less

The Coming Prosperity : How Entrepreneurs Are Transforming the Global Economy

Philip Auerswald

Published in print: 2012-04-26

Ours is the most dynamic era in human history. The benefits of four centuries of technological and organizational change are at last reaching a previously excluded global majority. This transformation will create large-scale opportunities in richer countries like the United States just as it has in poorer countries now in the ascent. This book argues that it is time to overcome the outdated narratives of fear that dominate public discourse and to grasp the powerful momentum of progress. Acknowledging the gravity of today's greatest global challenges—like climate change, water scarcity, and rapid urbanization—the book emphasizes that the choices we make today will determine the extent and reach of the coming prosperity. To make the most of this epochal transition, it states, the key is entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs introduce new products and services, expand the range of global knowledge networks, and, most importantly, challenge established business interests, maintaining the vitality of mature capitalist economies and enhancing the viability of emerging ones. The book frames narratives of inspiring entrepreneurs within the sweep of human history. The book's deft analysis of economic trends is enlivened by stories of entrepreneurs making an outsize difference in their communities and the world—people like Karim Khoja, who led the creation of the first mobile phone company in Afghanistan; Leila Janah, who is bringing digital-age opportunity to talented people trapped in refugee camps; and Victoria Hale, whose non-profit pharmaceutical company turned an orphan drug into a cure for black fever.

Why are some individuals more entrepreneurial than others? What types of institutional environments are more conducive to entrepreneurship? Does entrepreneurship contribute to the growth of a ...
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Why are some individuals more entrepreneurial than others? What types of institutional environments are more conducive to entrepreneurship? Does entrepreneurship contribute to the growth of a country? Answering these questions is particularly important at a time when governments all over the world are looking to entrepreneurship as a way to increase employment and the competitiveness of their countries. The chapters in this volume cover topics such as entrepreneurial motivation, gender and migration, entrepreneurial financing, urban entrepreneurship, growth-oriented entrepreneurship, economic growth, and regional entrepreneurship policies. Each chapter is based on data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. The GEM project collects detailed and comparable data on representative population samples in more than 60 countries. No other existing book provides such a coherent global view of entrepreneurship and its implications. Other studies use a hodge-podge of data from different sources to study entrepreneurship. The data used to support the different parts of a given argument are not always consistent with one another or easily compared. The scientific validity of such empirical findings is limited as the various pieces of evidence do not belong to the same puzzle. Therefore, the coherence of a universal approach is lost and important aspects of the entrepreneurial process may be overlooked or undervalued. This volume, on the other hand, tests all theoretical arguments against the same empirical data, all the pieces fit into the same puzzle and a coherent and unitary picture of entrepreneurial activity, from its causes and motivations to its macroeconomic impact and implications, emerges.Less

Published in print: 2011-07-01

Why are some individuals more entrepreneurial than others? What types of institutional environments are more conducive to entrepreneurship? Does entrepreneurship contribute to the growth of a country? Answering these questions is particularly important at a time when governments all over the world are looking to entrepreneurship as a way to increase employment and the competitiveness of their countries. The chapters in this volume cover topics such as entrepreneurial motivation, gender and migration, entrepreneurial financing, urban entrepreneurship, growth-oriented entrepreneurship, economic growth, and regional entrepreneurship policies. Each chapter is based on data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. The GEM project collects detailed and comparable data on representative population samples in more than 60 countries. No other existing book provides such a coherent global view of entrepreneurship and its implications. Other studies use a hodge-podge of data from different sources to study entrepreneurship. The data used to support the different parts of a given argument are not always consistent with one another or easily compared. The scientific validity of such empirical findings is limited as the various pieces of evidence do not belong to the same puzzle. Therefore, the coherence of a universal approach is lost and important aspects of the entrepreneurial process may be overlooked or undervalued. This volume, on the other hand, tests all theoretical arguments against the same empirical data, all the pieces fit into the same puzzle and a coherent and unitary picture of entrepreneurial activity, from its causes and motivations to its macroeconomic impact and implications, emerges.

The book describes what it means to say the world is complex and explores what that means for managers, policy makers and individuals. The first part of the book is about the theory and ideas and ...
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The book describes what it means to say the world is complex and explores what that means for managers, policy makers and individuals. The first part of the book is about the theory and ideas and science of complexity. This is explained in a way that is thorough but not mathematical. It compares differing approaches, and also provides a historical perspective, showing how such thinking has been around since the beginning of civilisation. It emphasises the difference between a complexity worldview and the dominant mechanical worldview that underpins much of current management practice. It defines the complexity worldview as recognising the world is interconnected, shaped by history and the particularities of context. The comparison of the differing approaches to modelling complexity is unique in its depth and accessibility. The second part of the book uses this lens of complexity to explore issues in the fields of management, strategy, economics and international development. It also explores how to facilitate others to recognise the implications of adopting a complex rather than a mechanical worldview and suggests methods of research to explore systemic, path-dependent emergent aspects of situations.Less

Embracing Complexity : Strategic Perspectives for an Age of Turbulence

Jean G. BoultonPeter M. AllenCliff Bowman

Published in print: 2015-07-01

The book describes what it means to say the world is complex and explores what that means for managers, policy makers and individuals. The first part of the book is about the theory and ideas and science of complexity. This is explained in a way that is thorough but not mathematical. It compares differing approaches, and also provides a historical perspective, showing how such thinking has been around since the beginning of civilisation. It emphasises the difference between a complexity worldview and the dominant mechanical worldview that underpins much of current management practice. It defines the complexity worldview as recognising the world is interconnected, shaped by history and the particularities of context. The comparison of the differing approaches to modelling complexity is unique in its depth and accessibility. The second part of the book uses this lens of complexity to explore issues in the fields of management, strategy, economics and international development. It also explores how to facilitate others to recognise the implications of adopting a complex rather than a mechanical worldview and suggests methods of research to explore systemic, path-dependent emergent aspects of situations.

With the growing influence of discursive perspectives and of research on organizational discourse, business discourse, and narrative perspectives on organizing, organizational scholars are focusing ...
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With the growing influence of discursive perspectives and of research on organizational discourse, business discourse, and narrative perspectives on organizing, organizational scholars are focusing increasing attention on the constitutive role of language and communication in organizational processes. This view conceptualizes language and communication as bringing organization into being, and is therefore inherently sympathetic to a process perspective. However, our understanding of the role of language in organizational processes and organizational action is still limited, partly due to the tendency in discourse analysis to focus on language alone, without explicit linkages to organizational practices, activities, and actions. Moreover, analyses elucidating the agency and power of discourses in specific organizational contexts have been scarce. Thus, there is a paucity of knowledge of the ways in which language and communication operate in organizational activity. This fourth volume focuses on language and communication at work, and examine language and communication as an inherent part of ongoing organizational processes. The chapters explore the question of language and communication as constitutive of work; analyze how language and communication work in the context of organizing and managing; and examine the role of language and communication as part of strategic and institutional work in and around organizational phenomena. More generally, the chapters concentrate on one or several aspects of organizing by showing how communication, discourse, and narrativity are constitutive of what is taking place. These analyses focus on micro-level instances of communication or discourse, or more macro-level processes of organizing or change.Less

The Emergence of Novelty in Organizations

Published in print: 2015-03-01

With the growing influence of discursive perspectives and of research on organizational discourse, business discourse, and narrative perspectives on organizing, organizational scholars are focusing increasing attention on the constitutive role of language and communication in organizational processes. This view conceptualizes language and communication as bringing organization into being, and is therefore inherently sympathetic to a process perspective. However, our understanding of the role of language in organizational processes and organizational action is still limited, partly due to the tendency in discourse analysis to focus on language alone, without explicit linkages to organizational practices, activities, and actions. Moreover, analyses elucidating the agency and power of discourses in specific organizational contexts have been scarce. Thus, there is a paucity of knowledge of the ways in which language and communication operate in organizational activity. This fourth volume focuses on language and communication at work, and examine language and communication as an inherent part of ongoing organizational processes. The chapters explore the question of language and communication as constitutive of work; analyze how language and communication work in the context of organizing and managing; and examine the role of language and communication as part of strategic and institutional work in and around organizational phenomena. More generally, the chapters concentrate on one or several aspects of organizing by showing how communication, discourse, and narrativity are constitutive of what is taking place. These analyses focus on micro-level instances of communication or discourse, or more macro-level processes of organizing or change.

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